A friend found these wooden gears in his late aunt’s attic as he was cleaning it out this weekend. He asked me if I had any idea what they were for and I had to confess my ignorance. I thought I would bring them here and see if any one has any ideas.
They are 5 1/2″ from tip of tooth to tip of tooth, and 3/4″ thick. The hole in the center is about 1 1/2″ square. They are wrapped in galzanized steel with a small nail driven into each tooth.
Any takers?
Rob
www.geocities.com/robntweber
Replies
Rob,
The "gear" looks like a ratchet wheel, it probably came off of a fabric loom. The ratchets were used to control the rotation of the two round wood beams that rolled up the fabric as it was finished and unrolled the threads that would eventually become the cloth. The beams were rotated a notch at a time as the fabric was woven.
John W.
John's definitely right they are clearly ratchet gears. I never thought of a loom but that sounds like a likely possibility. Could have belonged to something else either but I am pretty sure that they were never meant to mesh with each other ... they must have had pawls that locked into their teeth.
you see gears like that on quilting frames --
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